Restrictions in place on RI clam bed

The Department of Environmental Management says the restrictions placed Thursday on the Conimicut Point shellfish beds are intended to prevent over-harvesting and a glut of soft-shell clams that have hit the market recently.

New rules include reduced hours of access in some areas, and an increase in the size of legally harvested clams from 1 1/2 inches across the maximum shell diameter to 2 inches across the maximum shell diameter.

Conimicut Point on the western side of Narragansett Bay recently reopened to shellfish harvesting after being closed for three years, and has accounted for 90 percent of the state's yield since then.